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On Saturday, May 21 Pirch Soho opened at the corner of Lafayette and Broome in New York City. On Thursday, I attended the VIP opening party with the rest of the SieMatic and Fitch design teams. As long-time readers know, I have been designing the kitchen areas for the Pirch stores, and Soho is unquestionably our best. Here are some impressions of the finished store and the grand opening party.

The buzz starts on your subway ride to Spring Street. Pirch has advertisements throughout the subway using celebrities in the decorating and gourmet arenas.

The building itself is a fine old stone/brick manufacturing/office building, lovingly restored. The store itself covers 32000 square feet and actually comprises space from at least two buildings, as the grade change and brick arches inside reveal. The exterior brickwork and paint is exceptional.

Approaching the store after 6pm, guests experienced a velvet rope line up the block and tuxedo-clad “security”. Yes, quite the buzz.

Above is the view upon entry; SieMatic is the very first thing you see, even before the standard Pirch complimentary cafe. SieMatic was very fortunate to get involved with the store layout early in the design process. We were able to implement SieMatic’s vision of Timeless Elegance and Journey of Discovery by ensuring lots of space around each kitchen environment and letting the architecture inspire our layouts and material choices.

This first display features Gaggenau appliances, with a freezer and refrigerator clad with Black Oak veneer and the balance of the cabinets in Agate Grey matte lacquer. The open layout and floating shelves are minimal and contribute to the spacious feel.

As one walks throughout the space new display environments reveal themselves around wall blocks and glass screen walls. As they were setting up for the party, some of the larger areas were dominated by catering and DJ equipment so this shows only a portion of what is on offer.

Appliances on display include Sub Zero, Wolf, Viking, Miele, Gaggenau, Monogram … essentially the best available in the market today.

SieMatic’s new 3003 door features a very thin 6.5mm edge detail in matte Nutmeg lacquer. We mixed a very subtle aged bronze accent color into this display, as seen on the handles. Up front we show another 3003 in Graphite lacquer, this one featuring Miele appliances and stainless steel accents.

Realistic seating areas are included where we could fit them, as this completes the domestic feel but also these areas are where the Pirch and SieMatic customer consultations start as guests receive exceptional and personalized service when shopping at Pirch.

The Miele display is tucked into the window on the Broome side of the store, shown behind the stair area below. This little display may not be much in size but when customers explore each area of the store little surprises like this small kitchen area come to life.

Pirch offers kitchens, bathrooms and outdoor living furniture and fixtures. A view to a bath environment on the second floor shows how the store designers (Fitch of Columbus OH) aimed to show complete environments in the design. Note – all faucets and bath fillers and shower heads are fully functional for a very realistic experience.

The spaces on the second floor are more intimate due to a lower ceiling and window height. We responded to this feature by making the kitchen areas smaller and more realistic by building them in with walls and the ceilings properly. This “Innovation Loft” kitchen takes up the corner of the second floor and is part of an apartment suite. There are many home-organization and entertainment media screens embedded into the design like in the table and on top of the counter top.

The loft is fairly small so a good view of this area was a bit hard to capture properly. I didn’t venture upstairs during the party to see how this area was received but I’ll pop-up to NY occasionally to see how the store is doing “in action” and report back.

We used as many new SieMatic features as we could, including these open shelves from the “URBAN” collection of furniture, quite appropriate to New York’s apartment-dwelling clientele.

Marcia Speer of SieMatic poses with me for our obligatory party shot. Marcia and I work very close on these stores, selecting materials and shaping the overall product offering and interfacing with the Pirch team to get the mix of cabinets, counter tops and appliances just right. In addition we have a team of bright designers, managers and installation experts at SieMatic who help put the whole thing together – too many to note here but they know who they are and if reading this, please recognize that I cannot take any credit for this work without your invaluable help!

Next up for Pirch and SieMatic is the exciting addition of Austin TX. We have almost completed this design and it should be open by early 2017.

I know this latest store is the best for SieMatic and Pirch and I’m sure it will be a smashing success. When you are in NY please stop by and see the store and let us know how we are doing.

Just on the back of SieMatic’s New York grand opening, we made a trip to Chicago for the new kitchen/bath/outdoor fixture retailer Pirch’s opening party. Since Mick was involved with SieMatic’s display designs in this new groundbreaking store, we were eager to make the trip and get the brand’s full experience.

Formerly called Fixtures Living, Pirch – http://www.thepirch.com/ – is a relatively new store concept based in California. As shown above, one enters the Oakbrook Center store up an escalator from the upscale outdoor mall. Upstairs is a very large department store-like interior of about 30,000 square feet. Pirch’s bright interior concept opens eyes to every visitor who makes the visit.

Pirch, now with 4 locations (Glendale, San Diego and Costa Mesa precede Chicago), are doing things a little differently than other home-product stores. First thing entering the huge foyer is Bliss Cafe, a with-compliments espresso bar captained by happy baristas ready to make you feel at home. Happiness is one of the brand’s core values; their tagline is Live Joyfully.

Little messages and mottoes adorn the store, reminding you that life is short; think positively and renovate your home smartly. It’s an infectious environment and the bright interior keeps your eye moving. Large bathroom environments are to the right, and our kitchen displays to the left. Behind the cafe is the Boulevard, which leads to more experiences which I will share below. First, our kitchen area.

There are 16 (!) kitchen displays. Each display represents a full appliance package from some of the best brands; Sub Zero/Wolf, Miele and Gaggenau as well as popular brands such as Kitchen Aid and Jenn Air. Pirch’s store designers gave us the general footprint and a display concept and we set about making each display a SieMatic original.

Each display has an integrated styling concept, and all of the accessories are for sale. Each display concept is fundamentally identical at each location as well, making future changes more simple.

The most amazing thing is how everything works; the faucets are live, the vent fans turn on, the ovens and microwaves cycle through their menus, the refrigerators are quietly humming along. The bathroom area is the same too – you turn a faucet anywhere in the store and you can wash your hands.

We have been working closely with Pirch to make each environment as distinctive as we can, with seating areas and real layouts wherever possible. For consistency however, Pirch keeps the same high ceiling clouds and even lighting throughout the space, as opposed to building more architectural environments for each individual kitchen. With so many displays, this makes some sense as it is easy to circulate and find something that catches your eye. As we move ahead with future stores there will be more Total Home-type environments with seating areas and perhaps more enclosed residential-scale settings.

Clients and their designers can wander the space with home plans and engage with Pirch or SieMatic kitchen specialists whenever they need help. Furthermore, guests can reserve a “dream room” for a little more privacy to stretch out, complete with media and enough room to have lunch. Speaking of lunch, Pirch can feed you a proper meal as well. Part of the idea behind the working appliances, in-house Bridget’s is a full working restaurant kitchen and guests can get a feel for how ovens and cooktops work while digging in to the local chef’s culinary efforts.

Further back down the Boulevard is the Sanctuary, an enclosed spa-like bath area where guests can privately, on appointment actually disrobe and try out the equipment. In addition is a fully-functioning outdoor grill and seating environment, as well as laundry room concepts (also equipped by SieMatic).

At the back, there are the expected rows of appliances on display too. Although everything is very upscale and of a high-level of presentation, Pirch guarantees their pricing can match any local appliance distributor. This fixtures-shopping experience is really like no other.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Pirch are the locations. The first picture above, of the exterior, shows how integrated the store is on the outdoor mall. The adjacent shop is Lululemon. The usual upscale retail brands are all around, including decent dining as well. This is not a big box store sitting in a sea of parked cars; Pirch is integrated into the American luxury mall environment in a very unexpected way. As I understand, this is exactly their strategy – not only to serve need-based home renovators, but to entice visitors with a want-based showroom experience. They are bringing luxury kitchens and baths right to the average shopper.

After many hours of talking with guests and enjoying the day, our SieMatic group posed for a picture. From left; Mick, Rainer Mueller, Hans Henkes and Marcia Speer of SieMatic.

It was a long day of helping out with the SieMatic team and making sure our displays looked their best. I forgot to get pictures of the bath area, but it is very impressive with all the brands you could expect.

I highly recommend visiting Pirch if you are nearby. There are 2 more stores presently under construction – Dallas and Atlanta. Many more markets are planned for the future – Pirch is an exciting company on the rise. I am very proud to be part of the project, and very privileged to work with SieMatic on this wondrous retail adventure. Best of luck to Pirch in Chicago.